3DS gets huge boost as Nintendo trumps Sony again

Earlier this week Nintendo held one of its infamous conferences to announce a heap of new software for its platforms. This included some stuff for the Wii U such as downloadable content and a new system update coming next week. But what really caught my attention was how Nintendo managed to shock and thrill us with announcement after announcement of new games for the 3DS. New Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and even Zelda titles were revealed to make buying one of Nintendo's handhelds even more tempting than it already is. So, can Sony learn from this?

Doesn't it? They've sold over 3 million Wii U units so far and the Wii U was profitable from day one. It's already making them money.

Thats where Nintendo has always been wise. The gamecube for example, sold 2 million units less than the original Xbox (It came in last that Gen.), but since the console was profitable from day one, Nintendo made money from it. (Meanwhile the Xbox cost MS $5 billion by the end of it's life cycle as it was not profitable hardware) The Wii tells the same story. Profitable from day 1. While the PS3 lost $2.3 billion it's first year and the 360 lost $1.8 billion it's first year, Nintendo reported an $8 billion profit on it's first year. Nintendo are pros at making money. Don't let the anti Nintendo Hype fool you.

I stand corrected. I never have a problem admitting I'm wrong. I'd read something on the Wii U that was inaccurate so I appreciate the information. But the other info (wii and gamecube) were accurate. We do know the Cube turned a modest profit and the Wii killed.

@ctorretta, Thanks for supplying that link. It was well received.

I'm reading now that Nintendo's fiscal year ends on March 31. For the first nine months of the year, (as of Jan. 2013) Nintendo posted $5.97 billion in revenue. Overall, the company’s performance is an improvement from 2012. It has $160 million in net income so far, compared to a loss of $530 million in the first nine months of the previous fiscal year. I guess we can attribute that to software and Handheld sales.

In response to the antagonistic title, titled, '3DS gets huge boost as Nintendo trumps Sony again'. I think one is entitled to bring up the point of the latest range of Nintendo hardware not doing so well.

It becomes a pathetic attemp to flame bait when the writer needs to name drop Sony in the title of a Nintendo article just to gets views. If the writer wants to praise Nintendo for doing good work with the 3DS, that's fine. But the minute they have to name drop Sony, they just prove how bitter and biased they are. Even worse are some of the people on here that use this as an excuse to start a fanboy war. I own both a Vita and a 3DS and i think both are entertaining. Just because you prefer one over the other doesn't mean it's better then the other. It all comes down to preference and personal tastes.

Very well said.No doubt some zealous Nintendo fanboys rushed to bring in this flamebait. And then when anyone says anything against the Wii U and praises the next gen consoles they want to cry and stomp their feet about how cruel Sony fanboys are. 'The 3DS stomps Sony VITA. Ha ha ha'. And if I say. 'I think the Wii U is not going to have a chance against the PS4 or next Xbox' instantly the disagrees pile in and the crying starts about how I am a clueless Sony and/or Microsoft fanboy.

I dont really care about sales, i've been enjoying luigis mansion these past weeks and loving it. But overall I have alot of games for vita and 3DS sold most of the 3DS ones. Vita is hands down more enjoyable for me, games are longer with more content and just generally more varied and fun. The DS had much better Nintendo games, Mario 64 DS>3D land Mario Kart DS>mariokart 7 and so on. its only just starting to feel like nintendo isnt rushing out short games since the drought at beggining of launch. sales are all well and good, but for someone that has/had over 20 games for each console, i know which one was worth the money.

That is true. The media is partially to blame for the way fanboys act on forums. We don't need this endless product A is better than product B style of journalism where we have to have a winner and a loser.

@yoloswag..... Where in my statement did you see me say it was ok for Sony fans to attack a Nintendo product? In fact, i defended nintendo in my comment. Once again, someone feels the need to make this about Sony instead of just focusing on Nintendo. Thank you for proving my point about bitter and biased people in these forums.

This can't be true as its all doom and gloom about Nintendo at the moment.

IM glad the 3ds is selling well and im sure the Wiiu sales will pickup. I have a Wiiu and it is lacking 1st party games but if you look at zombie, mariou, Lego city and Nintendo land you can see what can be done to make it stand out from the other consoles.

To each his own. I personally still think the 3ds lineup is weak. The problem with Nintendo is that they make games for nintendo fans. They don't try to make games that appeal to other users outside their fanbase. I would love a new first person metroid,eternal darkness or a new rpg like the project rainfall games. This is why my vita been getting alot of playtime. Sony knows how to make a varity of different games to appease their fanbase. Even though it doesn't have the largest libary. It been gettting so much playitme out of me. This is why I love my vita and outside of braverly default. I won't be playing any other 3ds game this year. Unless something is annouce that appeal to me.

So should they make games for Sony fans? Your comment is a bit ridiculous. There is room for 2 handheld platforms both tailored to their core audiences. Do you really think that Nintendo is suddenly going to shift gears and make a Call of Duty clone??

"To each his own"... I'm sure Mika was just explaining her personal preference. If Nintendo could improve in one department would be diversifying in their 1st party portfolio, with all the money they made off the wii they could invest in new studios.

Sonys problem is quantity and the fact that all their best teams work on consoles only whereas Ninteno's go between console+handheld hence the universal quality control. Almost everything release on the Vita has been outsourced and the PSP's best developer ready at dawn has moved to ps4 now. But do agree that their limited 1st party line is more balanced then nintend's but they need more then just 3 big titles to carry through a whole year (Soul Sacrifice, Killzone, Tearaway)

I wouldnt say its weak but its definitely over rated.. 3DS has some good games out but its got a yr on vita.. Vita has plenty of time to get more games rolling in & the greatest ones havent even came out yet.. Its a better machine than 3ds & has better features but 3ds has more games & thats whats most important to ppl.. That wont last forever though, vita still hasnt dropped its price outside of japan & PS4 connectivity will boost it up..

I like my vita better than 3ds but thats just me.. Most parents buy a 3ds for their kids rather than a vita so the demographics are too different for comparisons like this.. Japan has way better games than us westerners do.. Another advantage 3DS has over vita is the BC with DS titles.. Vita is all new & so will the PS4.. That actually hurts em but the fight isnt over yet & the new & improved sony will climb back on top of the game.. Just wait until devs play around with the new hardware & features both PS4 & PSV have together..

what has time got to do with this? time has no bearing on what is most important. that is "appeal". Games appeal differently to people. It isnt the specs or when it was released.

Those are irrelevant topics that get brought in to throw people off the main subject of appealing games. TBH, some of the most appealing games in society as well as gaming history were not the bleeding edge high tech driven ones people think about.

Simple good ole' fashioned FUN is the reason why some games appeal more than others. Whoever is holding the FUN card has the edge. I will say though, FUN is a subjective term but more often than not it is universal in that if you are having fun playing the game (regardless of genre or platform) then you can say its a FUN game.

Thats funny. So Nintendo should stop making games for Nintendo fans? I dont get where you are coming from. And if you are happy with your vita youre in a small minority. Nintendo fans are happy as hell right now. Thats what matters to Nintendo.

And its not that Nintendo has MORE games, its that it has BETTER games. And the fact that you say the Japan has better games is laughable. How can you say that when youre a blatant Sony fan and Kojima, one of any Sony Fans idols, has dissed the Japanes industry

Point being they should expand their base. The usual mario, zelda, metroid are fine, but if havent bought a 3ds or DS for those games then i want a different experience. Doesnt have to be COD, but i would like a different experience.

Didn't know Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei (2 of them), Professor Layton, Virtue's Last Reward and Fire Emblem were just for Nintendo fans. At least I could get Dragon Fantasy for Vita yesterday so there is something.

Thats a foolish thing to say. You're basically telling us that Nintendo continuing to make games featuring the most iconic franchise characters of video game history is a bad thing. Fact is that Nintendo has innovated the market and released some of the most well received games ever. Nintendo makes games that appeal to everyone.

Also, It's not Sony making the best games for the Vita. It's the 3rd party devs. Check out a list of the top rated Vita games. In the top 10 you'll find maybe 2 were developed by Sony. Meanwhile, Nintendo has developed 8 of the 10 top rated 3DS games. I'd say Nintendo is definitely doing something right.

True they could make hardcore shooters and RTS games and whatnot but when New Super Mario Bors sells 30 million copies they are obviously doing something right. Nintendo's core games are by far the biggest selling games in the entire industry. Gears and God of War and Uncharted at their heights never mustered more than 5 million in sales. To Nintendo it's an obvious business decision. This ensures a steady robust cash flow until the first round of first party AAA titles help the WiiU pick up steam.

I agree, i prefer my vita to my 3ds simply because the games seem to be more orientated towards mature gamer, whereas nintendo are more for younger audiences, with the exception of fire emblem and now bravery default i doubt i will purchase any other software for it this year.

The funny thing about that argument is that only 13 years olds think they have to play "mature games" to be cool.

Mature gamers play all types of games and don't care about the ratings.

Case in point... I tried to get some kids to play Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. The game is rated E for everyone. However, it was too difficult for them and figuring everything out on their own was just too much.

"They don't try to make games that appeal to other users outside their fanbase."

You mean they should make the same games as Sony to appeal to YOU. I know plenty of gamers (including myself) who play sony games and still love Nintendo games. Sony and Nintendo are only mutually exclusive because you make them that way.

There are a LOT of RPGs on the 3DS, and more on the way. In fact, this article is about the latest Nintendo Direct which revealed that Bravely Default (an RPG that has been selling well in Japan) is coming to America.

so tell me, what SUPER ULTRA MATURE 18+ XXX exclusive games that appeals to your demographics that the vita have that made you and the others occupied for hundred of hours? uncharted? unit 13? AC III liberation? thats the only exclusive decent "big boys games" i could mention.

using your own and the other totally flawed logic, i could dismiss LPB, gravity rush and PBASBR as a non mature games. what the the difference in maturity between the three games that i mentioned and the 3ds games? what makes them more mature than fire emblem awakening? braviry default? kid icarus?

people like to treat the situation like its the same as with the wii vs the ps3 where there is HUGE difference in the target demographic, while in the vita vs 3ds, judging from their current libraries, there isnt as much difference as with the wii and the HD twins.

The vita has many games that are more likely to be enjoyed by more mature individuals. For example, a game like uncharted, it has mature content, a more complex narrative and gameplay that generally requires greater concentration.

Whereas with many nintendo games, the themes are less so, there stories are generally simple and focus on easy platforming and fun addictive gameplay (therefore more likely to be enjoyed by younger gamers).

Thats not to say either is exclusively catered to one demographic (both have exceptions such as resident evil for 3ds and lbp as you mentioned), just market saturation suggests vita games seem to be more orientated to the older more mature gamer, and nintendo the opposite.

I think you should really just read what "dark-hollow" has said and really take it to heart. And no... no Uncharted has a complex narrative. They are popcorn movies. I love Uncharted as much as the next guy, however, I'm not about to hold it up as an example of complex narrative.

You should really re-evaluate the term "mature-oriented games."

Most of the time, people just use that term to pat themselves on the back and ridicule other players. Mature content does not equate to mature gaming.

Fire Emblem, while not an M rated or "mature gamer oriented game" is a very mature game in how it handles its story and especially the development of its characters. The game manages to make you laugh, feel drawn to the large cast of characters, and if you choose to allow it, many of these characters can die forever. Other times, the game can move you to tears of either joy or sorrow.

So please, get off your high horse and stop using "mature gamers." It's clear you are not a "mature gamer" as evidenced by your arguments.

I have fire emblem, i played radiant dawn recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a very good series.

My stance has been a subjective one throughout, i havent said either device or there games are better or worse in general, simply that those on the vita appeal to me more than those on the 3ds.

You may not see uncharted as a good example of a complex narrative but i do, doesnt make either of us right overall, just in our own little bubbles. The same principle applies to what games we find appealing on either device.

I apolagise if ive offended you for preferring the vita and its games, but i dont really care for arguing over petty things so lets leave it there.

Mika spoke the truth, Nintendo had a huge line up of games. But for the majority of it it was pretty much Mario, luigi, and Zelda. Same sh*t different year. Nothing worth bragging about, if your not a die hard Ninty fan than this Nintendo direct was irrelevant. Sonys game library has more variety than Nintendos one trick pony cash cow line up.

Well, don't get me wrong, I like the Wii a lot. It's just that the Wii U should have been released when the Wii was. We should have never had a Wii. No reason why Nintendo couldn't have put out an HD console alongside Sony and MS.

Now, we've got the Wii U, which is what the Wii should have been, and Sony and MS are about to release newer consoles that will once again make Nintendo's console pale in comparison.